Queen of the selfie: The enduring allure of Frida Kahlo

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who died 60 years ago this month, is perhaps most famous for her surreal self-portraits which today fetch up to $5m. But her distinctive floral headwear, folk costume and strong brows have also inspired a legion of women to dress up like their hero.

Visual artist Bumi Thomas created a collection of photographs inspired by Kahlo's life, called "7 Series" in which she explored the image of the artist as a feminist icon and a historical figure, through a multicultural lens.

In this image, Thomas recreates 1939 painting "The Two Fridas."

One of her subjects was Minna Salami, Nigerian-Finnish writer and the founder of MsAfropolitan, a blog covering society and culture from a feminist perspective. "As a woman who dared to live her life the way she wanted to, however complex, Frida Kahlo is a huge role model to me. I am truly grateful to her legacy," says Salami.

Thomas says that she was drawn to Khalo's images because they combined cruelty and wit, honesty and insolence, pain and empowerment.

American Yolanda Gonzalez says that she has always been drawn to strong female artists, and used Halloween as an opportunity to dress as Kahlo. "Frida's story might be heartbreaking but to me it is inspiring. She overcame so much while being true to herself and her art. By dressing up like her I channel a bit of her creative strength," she says.

For Brazilian photographer Lorena Dini, who took this photo, Kahlo is a source of great inspiration. "For me, Frida Kahlo was a great person and a wonderful artist, " she says.

Sarah Iuliano, a journalism student, dressed as Frida Kahlo to give a presentation about her work in an art class aged 16. "Focusing on Kahlo's appearance rather than her work was of course not my intention, but to me, Frida Kahlo's look signifies freedom. Freedom to mix and match qualities considered to belong to either side of the frustrating gender binary, in both appearance, work and identity," she says.

American photographer Valerie Thompson took this photo of her friend Gloria, an artist heavily influenced by the imagery of Frida Kahlo, using a softer focus.

Colombian student Maria Malagon began to dress as Frida Kahlo seven years ago for the carnival in her home city of Barranquilla. "Each year I try to make a closer image of Frida. I greatly admire her work and her life story has left me with valuable messages," she says. Malagon has visited Kahlo's house in Mexico twice, and says that her work "drives me in some way to not lose my breath and live, that joy and suffering is what life is about."

There are numerous lookalike contest across the world, such as the one shown here in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Even young children get in on the act. "It's a real phenomenon," said art historian Helga Prignitz-Poda. "It's powerful but also a bit fun."

As a teenager, Kahlo suffered a horrific traffic accident which left her with lifelong health problems. Many of her self-portraits depict her in pain, such as 1944's "The Broken Column."

She once famously said: "I paint myself because I am often so alone, and because I am the subject I know best."

Kahlo married fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera in 1929. The couple had a tumultuous relationship, with Kahlo having affairs with both men and women.

"She pointed out her mustache and joint eyebrows because they show a male aspect to her personality, and Frida always wanted to be both. She wanted to be a complete human being and not only the sweet wife," said Prignitz-Poda.

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Power of charisma

The Frida effect

Artistically diverse

Inspiring others

Powerful portraits

Creative strength

Beauty of art

Gender freedom

Modern interpretation

Art as philosophy

Kahlo lookalikes

Baby-faced Frida

Painful pose

Loneliness as inspiration

Power couple

Queen of the selfie?

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

60th anniversary of Frida Kahlo's death

New retrospective of Mexican painter's work in Rome

'Phenomenon' of women dressing as legendary artist

Most famous for surreal self-portraits, today sell for $5m

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(CNN) -- It takes quite a character to inspire a legion of women to draw thick black unibrows and mustaches on their own faces.

Six decades after Frida Kahlo's death, her distinctive floral headwear, ornate dresses, and flash of red lipstick, still captivates some fans to the point of making themselves in her image.

Every time a major gallery launches a new exhibition of the Mexican painter's work, you can bet it will be accompanied by a queue of Kahlo-lookalikes, said art historian Helga Prignitz-Poda.

"I think people are most fascinated by her paintings -- Frida shows her inner life in a very authentic manner. And I think there are very few artists that have painted so much of what they really felt.

"There's a certain honesty, and that's what people understand and feel."

Kahlo's greatest muse was arguably herself, throughout her lifetime painting a huge number of self-portraits depicting deeply personal experiences in raw detail.

From miscarriages, to a painful back injury which plagued her, the viewer is given a glimpse into the darkest depths of Kahlo's world.

Over 110 pieces are on display at the Frida Kahlo exhibition in Rome.

Getty Images

She once famously said: "I paint myself because I am often so alone, and because I am the subject I know best."

And in an age of the selfie, could Kahlo's self-portraits tell us something about people's need to share their image with others?

"She told her friends: 'I give you this painting so that I am not so alone,'" said Prignitz-Poda.

"So when people looked at pictures of her in their houses they thought of her, and it was like a white magic -- the more she painted herself, the more she spread her image among her friends, and the more these friends thought of her.

She told her friends: 'I give you this painting so that I am not so alone'Helga Prignitz-Poda, art historian

"I think the people who dress-up as Frida Kahlo today want to identify themselves with her because they feel there is a person who has been as lonely as them. There is a person who fought against this loneliness, who was strong enough to overcome their own problems."

A life less ordinary

Kahlo's enduring allure is not simply due to her artwork, but a remarkable life which began in Mexico City in 1907.

Her marriage to fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera -- 21 years her senior and a towering figure beside Kahlo's petite frame -- was a tumultuous one, the couple divorcing in 1939 and remarrying the next year.

Both had extramarital affairs, with Kahlo perhaps most famously engaging in a relationship with Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, while he was in exile in Mexico.

Trotsky and his wife arrive in Mexico in 1937, surrounded by police, and Kahlo.

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"In the beginning Frida was in Diego's shadow, but she very soon stepped out of it," said Prignitz-Poda of the couple's avant-garde art careers.

"On their first trip to the United States in 1930, they had been married for one year, and already the press started to notice her appearance by his side as someone very attractive and spectacular.

"When people came to their house to interview Diego, they saw her paintings, and saw that she was also very interesting."

In 1938 Kahlo had her first solo exhibition in New York. A year later her self-portrait "The Frame," was purchased by The Louvre in Paris, the first work by a 20th century Mexican artist bought by the gallery.

When people came to their house to interview Diego, they saw her paintings, and saw that she was also very interestingHelga Prignitz-Poda, art historian

She had well and truly stepped out of her husband's shadow -- professionally at least.

Frame of mind

Gaze across Kahlo's self-portraits and you'll find an unsmiling woman with a harsh unibrow staring back.

But the bold persona was all part of a carefully cultivated "masquerade," says Prignitz-Poda.

"She's dressing up in the Tehuana dress, which represents the matriarch in a certain part of Mexico -- the strong woman who fights for her rights, makes her own money. She wants to represent this type of woman.

"She pointed out her mustache and joined eyebrows because they show a male aspect to her personality, and Frida always wanted to be both. She wanted to be a complete human being and not only the sweet wife, so this makes her look so strong."

Kahlo died soon after her 47th birthday in La Casa Azul -- "The Blue House" -- where she was also born, now a museum attracting thousands of visitors each month.

The official cause of death was respiratory failure, set on by pneumonia.

"Kahlo has become an icon for women artists of the world," said art historian Prignitz-Poda.

Getty Images

Today, Kahlo's paintings sell for a whopping $5.6 million, her face adorns Mexico's 500-pesos note, and a 2002 Hollywood biopic of her life featured Salma Hayek in the Oscar nominated lead role.

Major retrospective exhibitions of her work continue to draw huge crowds. And among them are the Kahlo lookalikes, who quietly contemplate their hero hanging on the wall.